So we’d heard some interesting rumors of late regarding Lars Von Trier‘s “Nymphomaniac” — rumors of heavy visual effects elements, seemingly borne out by the producer saying that the film wouldn’t be ready until the very end of the year due to some extensive post-production elements. And now, the truth behind the rumors has been revealed and it lets slip exactly how Von Trier is planning to combine his starry cast with explicit, hardcore sex scenes.

The film’s producer, Louise Vesth, has told The Hollywood Reporter that Von Trier is using digital effects to map the top half of the likes of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Shia LaBeouf, Jamie Bell, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen & co on to the bottom halves of professional porn-star doubles. “We shot the actors pretending to have sex,” the producer says, “and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post we will digital-impose the two. So above the waist it will be the star and below the waist it will be the doubles.” Oh, the life of a visual effects artist…

Beyond that, the film looks to be pushing less taboo boundaries, as Vesth told the trade that the films uses ‘double exposures and imposing words and symbols over the action,’ in a technique that one anonymous potential buyer called “groundbreaking… like nothing I’ve ever seen.” If the producer’s right, the film could turn out to be Von Trier’s masterpiece, as she says, “Lars has thrown everything in this one. It’s about religion, about God, about philosophy. There’s so much to talk about with this movie.” We’re excited, certainly. “Nymphomaniac: Pt. 1“will openin Denmark on Christmas Day, with part two, and an international release, likely to follow in 2014.